Cooking day...

My goal, each year at Thanksgiving, is to have all my house preparation done so I can spend the whole day before cooking. I don't usually pull it off. That means I spend time cleaning and cooking, too, and it's tiring. This year, we pretty much made my dream happen! Rachel and I spent most of the day in the kitchen, with pretty music playing and they sun shining in. We make a good team, cooking together.



I try to make most of the feast from scratch, and if possible from locally sourced food. I made bread.




We made beautiful cranberry sauce with tart berries and sweet clementines. To make it extra special I put it in a bowl I inherited from a sweet neighbor from days gone by. Garnet Vestal was a special friend to us, and this bowl belonged to her mother, so is 100 years old or more. I love to serve a little history with my food.

Rachel made her famous Chocolate Nemesis cake.



I helped clean up.



We bought the most beautiful sweet potatoes I have ever seen at the wonderful local Deerfoot Farm. Local and organic... they were just perfect looking. I roasted them then turned them into the famous sweet potato casserole with the recipe I got a from a favorite lady in Memphis, many years ago.



My nice mail lady surprised me by delivering a box filled with beautiful flowers. A gift from niece Aimee, her husband, and even her dog.
And my husband brought me roses...



I like to put them in antique bottles and spread them all around the house.



Fifteen pounds of potatoes were peeled, cut, boiled and turned into a vat of deliciousness. I used fresh, local, Jersey cow milk, Maine butter and some cream cheese to turn them into what my husband calls, "A major food group unto themselves."


In between the food preparation I cleaned out the pony shed, the goat room and the Silky palace. We took the dogs for a walk in the meadow,too. It was a beautiful day. And tomorrow the house will be filled with family. And gratitude.